Nov 23 2008
Tax Arrears League Table
Leaving top flight football for one brief moment, news that 50-60 Football League clubs have tax arrears - with the largest amounting to almost £7,000,000 for one club - has come as a huge bolt out of the blue.
The BBC have published a league table that reveals that two former English Premier League clubs, Leicester City and Leeds United failed to submit PAYE Tax and National Insurance on behalf of their employees (presumably given the amounts involved some of their players) to Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC).
What this means is that the British public purse has lost out by around £28m - all because clubs have pushed for success, borrowed money and signed players at inflated rates and then attempted to defraud the British taxpayer.
How has this occurred? Simply, the clubs have all at some point in the last 10 years been in administration of changed hands. As a result, arrangements have been made to settle with creditors. HMRC is not deemed a priority creditor, and as such arrangements have been put on the back burner. In the example given at the top, Leicester City managed to make arrangements to repay just 10% of the amount owed.
It’s an astonishing revelation, one which will leave murmurings of discontent echoing around football clubs across England and Wales.
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